Rotary engine



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` C. H.'MELV1LLE 8v T. W. BROWN.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Patented Jan. 6,1885.

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CHARLES HURBERT MELVILLE AND THOMAS VALTER BROVN, OE OHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE.

ROTARY ENGENE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 310,531, dated January 6, 1885.

Application filed March 7, 18S-1. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern..-

Be it known that we, CHARLES H. MnLvILLn and THOMAS XV. BROWN, both et' Chattanooga, in the county of Hamilton and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and Improved Rotary Engine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention consists of an improved contrivance of a radially-operating abutment with an eccentric revolving steam-actuated hub for utilizing steam-pressure to maintain steamt-ight contact of the abutment with the said hub; and our invention also consists of a-n improved contrivance for an automatic variable cut-off valve for regulating the supply of steam to the engine, all as hereinafter fully described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification,

in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the igures.

Figure l is a sectional elevation ot' our improved engine on the line of the shaft. Fig. 2 is a detail of the arrangement of the abutment, partly in section. Eig. 3 is a sectional elevation ofthe engine on the line .zrv of Fig. l. Fig. l is a perspective view of the abutment. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the steam-valve, and Fig. 6 is a detail of the case, showing the arrangement of the abutment.

Hthin a cylindrical case of ordinary form for rotary engines, consisting of rim a and heads ai, we arrange the cylindrical drum or hub b, fitting it eccentrieally to the shaft c, so that its highest point will work close to the inner periphery of the rim ot the case, and at this point we fit a suitable packing, c, to prevent steam from leaking past it. At the top of the rim of the case er in any `other approved part we arrange a radiallyrecipro eating abutment, d, to sepa-rate the inlet-pas sage f for steam from the exhaust g, preferably arranging said abutment inthe steamway f, which we construct in suitable size and form for the purpose, providing, also, a suitable radial extension-chest, h, ot' the case for the purpose, making said chest wider than the thickness or" the drum b, for enabling the abutment to be made wider in order that its ends :may have an extension, i, reaching beyond the edge j, that rests on the face of the drum Z), and that said ends may work in radial grooves 7c, which we form in the sides of the case to form supports for the abutment, to resist the steam-pressure and to pack more eliiectually against waste of steam past the abutment than would result if the abutment were of the same width of the drum and worked between the plane sides of the case. Y

Over the abutment ease h we arrange a steam-cylinder, Z, with a piston, m, in it, that is connected by its rod u with the abutment d, and having a steam-passage, 0, leading into it above the piston from the abutment-chest 7L, for pressing the abutment down on the face of the drum to insure a tight joint, to prevent the steam from leaking past the abutment to the exhaust. The cylinder Z is open from the under side of the piston to the exhaust side of the abutment d through passage 29 for the escape ot' steam that may leak past the piston, and which would, if confined, balance the pressure on the piston and prevent the desired effect. The rod a is packed with a stuffing-box, b?, in the lower head of the cylinder.

For regulating the steam admitted to the cylinder we use a rotary valve, q, of cylindri cal form in a corresponding valve-case, s, from which the porti discharges into the steamway j" of the abutment-chest h, said port having considerable length along the valve-case, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. The steam- Way through the valve is formed between the straight edge a el the valve, extending the whole length of the port t,'so as to open along the Whole length ei" the port at once, and the spiral line o, beginning at the line a at the back end of the'valve and terminating at 'w on the front end, between which point and line a about a quarter of the full size of the cylinder remains. This spiral line o forms the cutoff, and itsefect is made variable by the arrangement of the valve to shift length wise `in the valve-case, so that said line will 9 cross the port earlier or later, according as the valve is shifted one way or the other,which is eiieeted by the governor-levers x, pivoted to the arms y of the pulley a, fitted on the shaft a of the valve, said arms being suitably con- IOO neeted with the hub b' of said shaft, and the pulley z being geared with the main shaft c by a driving chain-belt d',- or it may be other approved means, by which the valve will be rotated synchronously with the drum b. N/Vith this valve steam may be cut off from three'- quarters of the revolution of the drum to as much less as may be desired, said valve being capable of shifting so far along the port as to open it for but a very short portion of the revolution, if the cylindrical portion of the valve be made about as long as the port, as it l 2. The radially-reciprocating abutment d, arranged in the abutment-chest h, wider than the'druin b, and iitted in the radial grooves k of the sides of the case, and having extensions 13 reaching past the face of the drum, each side of it, and in said Agroove k, substantially as described.

3. The rotary cylindrical steam-valve g,having straight steam-inlet line u and the spiral cut-off line u, and being arranged to shift lengthwise automatically by the action of the governor for automatically varying the cutoff 3 5 of the steam at the port t, in combination with the abutment d, all constructed and arranged substantially as described.

CHARLES HURBERT HELVILLE. THOMAS WALTER BROWN.

Vitn esses:

L. (1 KURTZ, M. WOLFE. 

